DPMM FC's Roy O'Donovan (C) tries to get past two Albirex Niigata (S) FC players during their S-League match last night. BT/ Saiful Omar
Steve Kean and Roy O'Donovan credited DPMM FC's hard-fought win against Albirex Niigata (S) FC to a formation change in the second half.
League leaders DPMM FC came from behind to win the nail-biting match 2-1 after marquee signing Roy O'Donovan scored a goal in the 56th minute on a solo run after stealing the ball from an Albirex defender, and then helping create a chance for a Rodrigo Tosi penalty in the 72nd minute.
Tosi is still the league's top scorer with 12 goals in the league. O'Donovan trails behind with 11 goals. "That was one of the hardest games we've played," said DPMM FC coach Steve Kean in an interview after the match with The Brunei Times.
"We thought they would play three in central midfield, so we adjusted ourselves to play three in the middle as well. "But instead, they played a 4-4-2 formation, and it really caught us off guard. We changed our formation basically, that's why in the first half we looked a bit unstable.
"But in the second half, we reverted back to our usual 4-2-3-1 and that's when we got into gear and started attacking. "I suspect our next game against Warriors FC (next Thursday) will also be a tough match," said the Scotsman.
DPMM FC play Warriors at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium in Singapore and currently enjoy a 13-point lead over their rivals. O'Donovan shared the same sentiments with Kean when speaking to The Brunei Times, and the Irishman also found time to applaud his teammates for showing great character during the match.
"It was a bit shambolic in the first half," he said. "That's because we tried to think about the technical side too much when we should've just concentrated on doing the best we could, and that's what we did in the second half.
"What was different in second half was that we went back to the usual formation that we've been using a lot lately, 4-2-3-1, and this made it easier for us to get into gear and start attacking the way we usually do.
"The team showed great character throughout the game, especially when Albirex took the lead. "Let's hope we can manage to keep this up and grab another win against Warriors next game," he added.
